Jamey Johnson

Like earlier country outlaws, Jamey Johnson forges his own paths while never forgetting his forebears. One is singer-composer Hank Cochran, who died in 2010. A giant among Nashville writers, Cochran wrote many tunes over nearly half a century, some now country standards. Having worked with a prerocking Eddie Cochran (no relation) in the early ’50s, he settled in Nashville in 1960. Among his earliest friends: singer-songwriter Willie Nelson, just in from Texas.

On 15 of the 16 tracks here, Johnson’s joined by others, many of them Cochran’s friends and peers. The band, largely bare bones, keeps voice and lyrics dominant. Brent Mason handles most lead guitar, with Steve Gibson on three tracks and Tommy White doing most pedal steel work.